The invention relates generally to the field of device handling and manipulation, and particularly to the handling and manipulation of multi-well plates. In one particular aspect, the invention provides for the transport of multi-well plates to precise and known locations at various processing or evaluation stations.
The use of multi-well plates to facilitate the performance of various chemical and biological procedures has become widely accepted. Such multi-well plates are typically rectangular in geometry and have a two dimensional array of wells. For example, one common multi-well plate design has an 8 by 12 array of wells.
To accommodate the performance of various procedures, the wells of such plates are configured to receive various chemicals or substances. One common procedure is the performance of assays where various chemicals or substances are introduced into the wells and any reactions are evaluated. One type of assay evaluation may proceed by placing the plate above a camera to detect an emitted signal from the wells.
Hence, when using such multi-well plates, it is often desirable to efficiently deliver and/or remove various chemicals or substances into or from the wells. This often requires the plate to be moved to various pieces of processing equipment for filling or removal. Further, the plates may also need to be transported to evaluation equipment for detection or other evaluation.
When introducing or removing fluids or substances into or from the wells, and when evaluating the substances within the wells, the wells typically need to be aligned with distal tips, detection devices and the like. However, since various pieces of equipment may be needed to complete a procedure, each time the plate is moved to a different piece of equipment, the plate will need to be properly oriented according to the specifications of the given piece of equipment. For example, many types of fluid delivery equipment include a stage on which the plate is placed. Often a robot is employed to grasp the plate and move the plate to the stage. However, such robots typically have a pair of grasping fingers which grasp the plate in an arbitrary manner and then place the plate on the stage.
Hence, once on the stage and removed from the robot, the dispensing tips will need to be aligned with the wells in the plate. Such a system is often burdensome and time consuming. Moreover, as it becomes more desirable to increase the numbers of wells in the plate while reducing their size, it becomes more difficult to precisely align the wells with various pieces of equipment. For example, many types of filling equipment are provided with 96 dispensing tips. If an 864 well plate is placed on a stage which can move only in the vertical direction, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the 96 dispensing tips to fill all of the 864 wells while the plate remains fixed on the stage.
Hence, it would be desirable to provide systems, devices and methods to facilitate the transport of multi-well plates between various pieces of equipment in a manner such that the wells may be efficiently accessed or evaluated.